Maharashtra reports 48 more COVID-19 deaths, total cases surpass 20K

Maharashtra on Saturday notched a new single-day high of 48 coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths with the tally of positive cases crossing 20,000, marking a grim completion of 60 days since the virus first entered the state on March 9 with only 2 cases.

With 48 fatalities, the state's death toll shot up from Friday's 731 to 779 Saturday while the total number of cases increased from 19,063 to 20,228 -- a jump of 1,165 cases.

Of the total deaths, 27 were recorded in Mumbai, taking the city toll to 489, while the number of COVID-19-positive patients in the city shot up by 740 to 12,864 on Saturday.

Dharavi continued to be a major hotspot in Mumbai, notching 25 new cases, taking the total number of patients to 833, while 27 persons have succumbed to the dreaded virus till now.

Three days after a macabre video surfaced showing COVID-19 patients lying among dead bodies purportedly at the LTMG Sion Hospital, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday shunted out the Dean of the hospital, Pramod Ingle, and replaced him with another senior official, Ramesh Bharmal.

Late on Friday, the state government had removed BMC chief Praveen Pradeshi and appointed senior IAS officer Iqbal Singh Chahal to head the civic body.

A day after he took charge, the newly-appointed Municipal Commissioner on Saturday visited the BYL Nair Hospital and the Dharavi slum for a first-hand assessment of the COVID-19 treatment and containment facilities as cases and deaths continue to gallop in Mumbai.

Among Saturday's 48 COVID-19 victims in the state, 21 were men and 27 were women, and nearly 72 per cent of them suffered from other serious ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, heart problem and asthma.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Thane Division) continued to cause major worries with 524 COVID-19 deaths and 15,595 patients.

Pune Division trails a distant second with 161 fatalities and 2,513 patients.

The next area of concern is the Nashik Division with 40 deaths and 857 positive cases, followed by Akola Division with 24 deaths and 345 patients and Aurangabad Division with 13 fatalities and 514 patients.

On the positive side, 330 fully cured patients returned home on Saturday, taking the number of those discharged to 3,800 till date.

Meanwhile, the number of people under home quarantine increased from Friday's 239,531 to 241,290 on Saturday and those under institutional quarantine went up from 13,494 to 13,976, while the state's containment zones increased from 1,139 to 1,243.

As many as 12,388 teams have carried out a survey of a population of around 55 lakh in the state till date.

From Sunday, at least three flights from the UK, Singapore and Philippines will land in Mumbai, carrying hundreds of Indian stranded in those countries, with more flights expected in the next week.